Han-Zhao

Han-Zhao
Former Zhao
漢 (304–319)
趙 (319–329)
304–329
Han-Zhao before split, c. 317, northern China
Han-Zhao before split, c. 317, northern China
Han-Zhao (Former Zhao) after split, c. 326
Han-Zhao (Former Zhao) after split, c. 326
CapitalLishi (304–305)
Liting (305–308)
Puzi (308–309)
Pingyang (309–318)
Chang'an (318–329)
Shanggui (329)
Religion
Tengriism, Buddhism
GovernmentMonarchy
Emperor 
• 304–310
Liu Yuan
• 310
Liu He
• 310–318
Liu Cong
• 318
Liu Can
• 318–329
Liu Yao
• 329
Liu Xi
History 
• Established
304
• Liu Yuan's claim of imperial title
2 November 308[1][2]
• Name change from Han to Zhao
319
• Liu Yao's capture by Shi Le
21 January 329[3][4]
• Disestablished
329
Area
316[5]2,000,000 km2 (770,000 sq mi)
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Jin dynasty (266–420)
Later Zhao
Today part ofChina

The Han-Zhao (simplified Chinese: 汉赵; traditional Chinese: 漢趙; pinyin: Hàn Zhào; 304–329 AD), or Former Zhao (simplified Chinese: 前赵; traditional Chinese: 前趙; pinyin: Qián Zhào), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Liu (Luandi) clan of Xiongnu ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history.[6] In Chinese historiography, it was given two conditional state titles, the Northern Han (北漢; Běi Hàn) for the state proclaimed in 304 by Liu Yuan, and the Former Zhao (前趙; Qián Zhào) for the state proclaimed in 319 by Liu Yao. The reference to them as separate states should be considered misleading, given that when Liu Yao changed the name of the state from “Han” to “Zhao” in 319, he treated the state as having been continuous from the time that Liu Yuan founded it in 304; instead, he de-established his imperial lineage from the Han dynasty and claimed ancestry directly from Modu Chanyu.

The reason it is also referred to as "Former Zhao" in historiography is to distinguish it from the similarly-named dynasty founded by Shi Le in 319, which was also known officially as "Zhao" (labeled "Later Zhao" in Chinese historiography). Since both the Former Zhao and Northern Han were ruled by the same family, the Chinese scholars often conditionally combined them into a single Han-Zhao regime. Numerous Western texts refer to the two states separately; others referred to the Han state as the “Northern Han”, a confusing nomenclature given that the term also refers to the Northern Han state of the later Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

During the Han period, the capital was frequently shifted around Shanxi before finally settling in Pingyang. The Han was a driving force during the upheaval of the Five Barbarians, as they brought the Disaster of Yongjia and demise of the Western Jin dynasty by 317. At the height of its power, the Han ruled Shanxi, Shaanxi, eastern Gansu, and large parts of Shandong, Hebei, and Henan. After Jin Zhun's coup in 318, the empire, which renamed itself to (Former) Zhao in 319, was split into two between Liu Yao and the warlord, Shi Le. Liu Yao moved the capital to the west in Chang'an, retaining Shaanxi and eastern Gansu, while the eastern portion of the empire fell to Shi Le's Later Zhao dynasty.

  1. ^ "中央研究院網站".
  2. ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 86.
  3. ^ "中央研究院網站".
  4. ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 94.
  5. ^ Rein Taagepera "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.", Social Science History Vol. 3, 115–138 (1979)
  6. ^ Grousset, Rene (1970). The Empire of the Steppes. Rutgers University Press. pp. 56–57. ISBN 0-8135-1304-9.

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